“This transaction helps us now and in the future,” Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby said. “While it is difficult to see players like Jason, Hedo and Earl depart, we are excited to welcome Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus. Marcin addresses our need for more size, rebounding and defensive presence. Vince and Mikael will be dynamic in our offense and improve our perimeter defense. Gaining a first-round pick in this year’s draft is an added bonus.”

The 6-6, 220-pound Carter is a 12-year NBA veteran who owns eight NBA All-Star appearances, including seven selections as a starter.

Carter was the 1998-99 NBA Rookie of the Year, earned All-NBA honors in 2000-01 (Second Team) and 2001-02 (Third Team), and won an Olympic Gold Medal as a member of the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

The 33-year-old Carter, who currently ranks eighth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list among active players, is 169 points shy of 20,000 for his career. Carter averaged 20 or more points in 10-straight seasons from 1999-2000 to 2008-09, and owns career averages of 22.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 874 games (866 starts) with Toronto (1998-04), New Jersey (2004-09) and Orlando (2009-10).

The graduate of the University of North Carolina has been Orlando’s second-leading scorer in each of the last two seasons (Dwight Howard), including a 15.1-point scoring average through 22 games in 2010-11.

Carter has appeared in 56 playoff games in six career appearances, and owns postseason averages of 23.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

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